Namibia link rejected

Press, 17 February 1983, Page 8

Namibia link rejected

NZPA Geneva The United Nations Secre-tary-General, Mr Javier Perez de Cuellar, said yesterday after a nine-nation African tour that he rejects the United States' stand that self-rule for South-West Africa must be linked to withdrawal of Cuban troops from neighbouring Angola. Mr Perez de Cuellar also said that the black-ruled States near South Africa were increasingly impatient with United Nations-sqnc-tioned efforts to negotiate anend to Pretoria's administration of the sprawling, min-eral-rich territory also known as Namibia. “I feel that something should be done and soon," he said, without, however, offering specific suggestions. Mr Perez de Cuellar said that he had found the leaders of the "front-line" African States unanimous in rejecting a linkage between withdrawal of the 12,000 to 15,000 Cuban troops to resolution of the Namibian issue. The United States and

South Africa have pressed for associating the two issues in the protracted talks that black leaders say have reached a stalemate. The front-line States are Angola. Zambia, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Tanzania. Meanwhile, Angolan guerrillas have asserted that they ambushed a train on the line linking Luanda, the Angolan capital with the interior. A military communique by the National Union for the Total Independence of An- .•» gola said that the ambush was one of 10 guerrilla attacks in various parts of the i country at the week-end. A total of 159 members of ; the Angolan security forces ; and 64 Cuban soldiers had been killed that day for the loss of 17 guerrillas, said the I communique. ; The attacks had included i two separate raids on the British-owned Benguela railway running through the i centre of the country, a frequent target since the Angolan Civil War started in 1975.